Well, when i watched the movie the first time, i was mainly drooling over how hot Brandon Routh is. And yes indeed, after all these years, he is still as stunningly attractive. I wonder where he is now? I guess sometimes looks alone brings you nowhere...Opps!

Anywayz, i was shocked to see James Marsden playing Richard, Lois Lane's fiance. I mean, last time, i had noooo idea it was him. I only hated that character because i wanted Superman and Lois Lane together and that fiance is just a nuisance in their relationship. I know, how childish right? Well i was like that last time haha. I always watch a show or movie if only the hero and heroine of my choice ends up together. LAME ya...but i wouldn't say i'm out of that phase but at least some improvement haha.

I have a completely different feeling about Richard this time when watching "Superman Returns" this time however. Maybe it's because i like James Marsden haha...
But no, seriously, Richard is actually my favourite character, besides Superman of course.

I think Richard is like the human symbol of Superman. It's like, when Superman left Lois, she found Richard i think because of Richard's similarity with Superman. Well, Richard flies airplanes, so he indirectly, it's like he flies, just like Superman. And there was a scene where Lois Lane asked him, how did you come here and he answered, "I flew". I guess this shows the symbolic representation of Superman in Richard.

The climax of the movie sees Superman in trouble. Richard flew his plane together with Lois and son, Jason, to Superman's aid. I guess it really shows that Superman is really 'human' in his own way, even though he hails from another planet. He needs help as much as we do too. And at the beginning we see SUperman helpin others, and later we see Richard helping Superman.

Richard is also really cool because even though he knows his beloved Lois is in love with Superman, he is there for her. So supportive and that's what made him a real man. He is somewhat like Superman here again, isn't he? Superman is there for Lois.

I feel now that "Superman Returns" have a deeper meaning to it. It's not just a lame remake of comic book heroes. If you ask me, what the whole movie is trying to say is, anyone can be Superman in their own ways. You don't need a cape and a red underwear worn outside to be Superman. And even if you are Superman, it doesn't mean that you don't need help.

Lois in the movie won an award for her article "Why we don't need Superman in our life"
But Superman told her that he hears cries for help everyday and i guess he feels it's his responsibility to help them....I guess we can relate to that. We are no SUperman of course but i'm sure as human you see pleas for help everywhere and sometimes i guess, we should help, like Superman, but within our powers of course.

This lead me to my favourite part of the movie, which is when Superman flew together with Lois and brought her 'hanging' in mid-air in the middle of nowhere. And there he asked "What do you hear?". Lois answered, "Nothing" and he replies, "I hear everything."

I remember this part til now. The exact phrase. Personally, I'm really touched by Superman's reply, I don't know why. Maybe because i feel that he is burdened with that responsibility. For Superman, he has to help like practically everyone...maybe he feels tired too. Have you ever felt that you want to help but you can't? Well, for us, we can just be like "Hey, i Can't help you, I'm not Superman!" But for him, well he is Superman. Plus, who can he confide in?

I am recently exposed to a text on religion etc etc, and how the program "Lost" contains certain depictions of religion that spurred a lot of online discussions about the matter. Of course the main point of the text is a lot more and not important in this context. But because of the article, i thought of how "Superman Returns" might be also used to communicate certain idea of religion.

"Superman" is seen as the saviour in the movie. There was a part in the movie where we hear a voice-over of Superman's father saying that he sent his only son to Earth to help humans. I'm not Christian but isn't that similar to why God sent his only son, Jesus to Earth?

If it is an indirect representation of Christianity, i guess the author of the movie is very subtlely saying that, maybe even the son of God has weaknesses, like Superman - kyptonite. Sorry, i'm not trying to offend Christians but it's just what i feel the movie is presenting because of the scriptwriting.

Superman is seen as the "saviour" in the movie. And the "Saviour" at the end needs to be saved. Or put it differently, even the "saviour" has a weakness too.

I just see some similarities here and there. Again i really do not wish to anger any Christians. Feel free to reason with me because my facts could be inaccurate.

I am not a Superman fan. I'm never. I find Superman fake. I mean, how can one not see that Clark Kent is Superman! Plus i really hate superhero movies where the heroine always seem to need help from the hero. Plzzzz....cal me whatever but in reality, it's not necessarily like that.

But I thank God that "Superman Returns" is quite realistic in some ways. Like at least Lois has character - she's dependent and even though she needs Superman's help, she's not like that useless herself. She doesn't sit and wait for help but uses her brains also.

And i love the fact that the story includes a part in which Richard and Lois helped Superman. It just shows that sometimes, we can do a part even without super powers.

When Superman was in the hospital, in comma, Lois kissed him and then looked at that monitor thingy in the hospital and then she shook her head and laughed. I find this part very realistic haha...because she was hoping that she's in a fairy tale, a true love's kiss would wake a person up. I don't know about you but even tough girls sometimes secretly wish for a fairy tale ending in devasting times. And when it doesn't happen, they'll laugh at themselves for that silly thought because we all know that storybook endings seldom happen. And even if it does, I don't think I'm the lucky one. Trust me, I do think like that sometimes. I guess Lois was feeling exactly the same.

Superman - fictional or realistic...you decide. I mean, Superman to me is just a symbolic representation of someone great, that we feel can 'save' us. Saving us doesn't have to be physically but in so many other aspects and ways. I'm sure deep in all our hearts, we have our own Superman or Supermans. And maybe you are a "superman" to someone else too. You will never know ;P


tammy c